


Eye of the Hurricane

by CoffeeAndTae



Category: Tokyo Ghoul
Genre: Comfort, Cuddling, Cute, F/M, Fluff, Kissing, Storms, TG, ayahina, ayahina fluff, tg re - Freeform, tokyo ghoul - Freeform, tokyo ghoul re
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-07-01
Updated: 2017-07-01
Packaged: 2018-11-21 23:25:19
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,189
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11367804
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CoffeeAndTae/pseuds/CoffeeAndTae
Summary: Hinami's always hated storms. Ayato helps her find some comfort.





	Eye of the Hurricane

**Author's Note:**

> back at it again with the ayahina trash

Anticipation. Anxiety. The patter of drip-dropping pinpricks as the beginnings of a storm bring warning in the form of scattered rain.

Muted light illuminated full, sick-looking clouds as a chill kissed the surface of whatever it could cling to, and Hinami watched with dread when she looked up to see a fogged over window-pane. A sizable lump of dread lodged in her throat when the rumble of thunder sounded off in the near distance, and no matter how much wringing she did with her clammy hands, the distraction couldn’t slake the impending anxiety she felt whenever any storm came into places it was unwelcome. It was silly, even to her. Why should she, someone who possesses lethal tendencies, be afraid of a dumb rain cloud? 

It was partially the sounds. The cracks of the thunder hit decibels that shook her to her very core, and she’d never been one for excessive loudness. It was also partially the absence of light and sapping of color, and how she hated it even on normal nights when the solemn moon waved its goodbyes to the vibrant Sun she’d grown to love and rely on. But mostly, it was the feeling of sadness that even time couldn’t repair. With every rainstorm comes the onslaught of memories of that day; the day she became an orphan. The vivid flashes of pain and sounds of her mother’s crying cut just as deeply as they did that same day, and that dreadful rain served as dismal background noise on a track stuck on repeat in her mind.

Hinami’s breath seemed to be coming unevenly, and she needed to find a distraction to take her mind off things. A forgotten book lay on the battered looking coffee table, so Hinami grabbed it and opened it on a random page, not really caring where she started. A large clap of thunder seemed to shake the room as it came suddenly, wrenching a whimper from Hinami’s mouth. Her hands shook with the effort of her labored breathing, then bordering on hyperventilation, and the words blurred together like she was looking at an optical illusion.

Just as Hinami was trying to put the book aside without damaging the pages or binding, another loud sound startled her - but this time, it came from the door. The wood swung up, bringing a gust of cold air and spray of rain along with an ungraceful mass of wet clothes, and it wasn’t until Hinami caught a glimpse of the damp, indigo hair that she could regain some semblance of calm. Ayato shut the door behind him to hinder anymore gross, wet stuff from intruding, and turned to face Hinami. Droplets of rain decorated his hair and face, and the poor boy was practically soaked to the bone. Despite his discomfort and obvious need for a change of clothes, he spoke, directing his attention to Hinami entirely.

“Are you okay?”

He knew her too well.

“Trying to be.” She assured him, her small voice paling in comparison to the terrifying sounds from outside. 

“Wait there and give me a second.”

Ayato fled the main room, and even in his brief absence, Hinami felt sad. She knew he’d be coming back, and she was already feeling tremendously better just knowing that he was there, but she missed him even when she was with him. 

“Scoot over,” Ayato’s voice came from behind the wall and he appeared, not giving her much of a chance to miss him before he was back.

She got a good look at him as he crossed the distance to the sofa, making short work of it with his long legs. His hair was still damp, but he’d traded his sopping clothes in favor of dry ones, and he was already looking better. Hinami did as instructed and made room for him on the small couch, even though it could barely fit two people comfortably. They still made it work. After finding a good position, he turned to face her and his large hands found her small ones, sending a shiver down her spine at the bite of cold tinging his flesh.

“Sorry,” He muttered gently, stroking his thumb lightly over the back of her hand in apology.

“It’s okay, I missed you.” She replied, and while her voice was still strained from the fear, she was regaining strength with every passing moment of him being there.

“Coffee time?” Ayato offered her a small smile that only she was allowed to see.

Whenever Hinami or Ayato were in a state of emotion, whether it be stress, anger, sadness, happiness, etcetera, they had a routine. It started off a couple of years after knowing one another, when they were close enough to speak comfortably, but not quite at the level they were at now. Usually, the other could tell when something was up, and after countless encounters with shared cups of coffee, they would ask the other, “Coffee time?” to give them a chance to talk or chance to opt out if uncomfortable. While the origin of the phrase came from having coffee with one another, it steadily branched off to just meaning ‘wanna talk?’.

Hinami laughed despite herself. 

“Kinda hard to talk right now.” She tried her best to explain, but the words weren’t necessary, because Ayato knew her just as well as she knew herself. 

“Hey, ‘s okay, I’ll talk.” Ayato leaned forward to press his forehead lightly against hers, and a couple of stray wet hairs tickled her skin. “Want to know what I saw today?”

“Hm?” Hinami timidly laced her fingers with his and squeezed.

“One of those authors you like is coming out with another book soon. He put a bunch of papers with the release date in the bookshop you like to go to, so I grabbed a few. They’re kinda wet, but you can still read it.”

Hinami’s chest felt tight. 

“What were you doing in the bookstore?”

“Just looking.”

“Oh, really?” Hinami asked. “Just looking?”

A dust of pink speckled Ayato’s cheeks and nose that he’d probably blame on the cold. 

“You want the papers or not? I can throw ‘em away if -”

“No, no!” Hinami cut him off. “Thank you, thank you, thank you.”

“That’s more like it. Ungrateful.” He huffed in indignation, and Hinami squeezed his hands again.

Just then, a bright flash of light lit up the room, and Ayato acted quickly. He pulled Hinami into his arms, muffling her ears as best as he could, then the thunder boomed. The sound was muted and though the suddenness of everything caused her to flinch, Hinami relaxed in his strong arms and latched onto him like a small leech, sapping as much strength from him as she possibly could.

“Hina? Look at me for a second.” 

Hinami reluctantly pulled her face away from the comforting spot in the crook of his neck, large, doe like eyes meeting his beautiful blue ones. 

“Dad told me something when I was a kid - you know how the lightning happens before the thunder?”

Hinami nodded, repressing a shudder just thinking about it.

“Well, there’s a way to count how far the storm is. The lightning happens, then you count the number of seconds until the thunder comes. About every five seconds means it’s one more mile away.”

“Is that true?” 

Ayato shrugged. 

“Could have been a load of bullshit, but it helped a lot when I was a kid. You can hear the thunder get further away when you keep doing it.”

After he spoke, another flash of lightning occurred. Ayato leaned forward, and without warning, pressed a series of kisses to Hinami’s face - two on her forehead, two per each cheek, three on the tip of her nose, one on each eyelid, then a soft graze to her quivering lips. The thunder came a moment later, and Hinami was so flustered, she barely flinched. Ayato let go of one of her hands to cradle her jaw and smirked.

“Two miles away.”

Hinami went a soft, pretty pink that made Ayato’s chest flood with warmth. They sat like that in a silence for a few minutes, sharing warmth and comfort, and Hinami’s anxiety was slowly ebbing away. She was still very aware of the storm and the inevitable thunder claps, but Ayato was making it tolerable. He always did. 

“Ayato?”

“Yeah, Hina?”

She couldn’t help but smile; that nickname still made her abuzz with delight.

“I was reading this one book one time - one about hurricanes. They’re really scary, but there’s a part of the hurricane that’s not. It’s the very center of it - in the middle of all the destructive stuff. It’s called the eye of the hurricane. And you know something?”

“Yeah?”

Hinami pressed her forehead back to his, bringing her free hand up to her face where he was cupping it. She lightly rested her hand atop of his.

“You kinda remind me of that. The eye.”

Like clockwork, the lightning came, and even though it meant bracing for the thunder, Hinami was dazed by the way it lit up Ayato’s face, every feature standing out. She was expecting a few kisses like before - peppered all over her face in the form of a kiss per second. Instead, Ayato released her other hand so he could have a more secure hold of her face and leaned in to kiss her - really kiss her. He wasn’t sloppy or overpowering - no crushing of lips or moving too fast. He parted her lips slightly with his and angled his face in a way that allowed him more control. The kiss was languid and slow, commanding every ounce of Hinami’s attention that was focused on the storm prior. She sighed into the kiss and Ayato swallowed the sound, and rather than sucking face it was like they were breathing as one. Hinami didn’t so much as jolt when the thunder came, too wrapped up in his scent and taste, wanting to savor the moment for as long as she could until they had to pull away for breath. Ayato finally broke the spell, more so for his own sake as to not let things get too out of hand or take advantage of the situation when Hinami was upset and starved for affection. 

“How many?” He asked.

“Wh- Huh?” Hinami spoke breathlessly, incredibly confused.

Ayato laughed.

“How many seconds?”

“Oh.” She deflated. “I - I wasn’t counting.”

“Tch. So easily distracted.” He murmured, stroking down from her jaw to her sensitive neck. “So pretty.”

“It’s your fault.” She accused, lower lip jutting out in a pout.

“Something I have no problem taking entire responsibility for.” 

He was so unfairly attractive. She was so unfairly adorable. It was a good thing they balanced out well.

“Feel better?” He asked seriously, stopping the movement of his hands so she could think properly.

Hinami nodded.

“A lot. Still kinda nervous, though. I don’t think that’ll go away.”

“Hold on - I’ll be right back.” He said suddenly, scooping her out of his embrace and pulling away to leave the room.

Hinami whined, well aware that she was being childish, but too in love to care. 

“Relax, relax, I’ll be right back.”

True to his word, Ayato was back within a matter of moments. In one hand was a flimsy looking piece of paper and in the other was a small bag that Hinami immediately recognized to be coffee grounds. Ayato allowed her the piece of paper and walked to the kitchen area to start a brew to give her time to look over the flyer.  
Etched into the damp, sad looking paper were the details of one of her favorite fantasy author’s next book. She’d almost forgotten Ayato telling her what with all the distractions, and as she read on through all the somewhat vague details to allow a surprise for the novel, that last trace of nerves melted away, replaced with newfound excitement and the rich scent of coffee.

After a few re-reads of the flyer, Hinami looked up to see Ayato carefully balancing a mug in each hand, full to the brim with steaming brown. She hadn’t even noticed, but the storm was gone, only the faint sound of dripping rain indicating it had even existed. Ayato handed Hinami her favorite chipped mug and cradled his own favorite blue one to his chest.

“Coffee time?” He tried again, making Hinami giggle.

“Coffee time.” She agreed. 

As they talked between sips of piping coffee, an overall sensation of calmness trickled throughout Hinami’s body. Ayato truly went to great lengths to make her happy, to ease her worries, and to keep her calm and he genuinely was the serenity and center of the catastrophic storm surrounding the both of them. He was the eye of the storm, and just as he was for her, she was for him. 

“Hey, Hinami, I have an idea.” Ayato said after finishing off his coffee. “Maybe next time we could count the seconds with clothes, two per sock, one for a jacket, one for a shirt…” 

She flushed bright red and smacked his arm. 

“Ow! Kidding, kidding!”


End file.
